Fractionating apparatus



May 18, 1943 J, o, R ED 2,319,365

FRAGTIONATING APPARATUS Filed April 15, 1941 l5 I9 I I2 I 29 FIGURE 2 I I6:

'26 INVENTOR g l- L Jesse 0 Reed M 27 FIGURE I ATTORNEY Patented May 18, 1943 FRACTIONATING APPARATUS Jesse 0. Reed, Washington, D. 0., assignor to Claude R. Wickard, as Secretary of Agriculture 01' the United States 01' America, and his successors in oflice Application April is, 1941, Serial No. 388,600

4 Claims. ((31. 210-495) v (Granted under the act or March 3, 1883, as amended April 30, 1928; 370 0. G. 757) This application is made under the act of March 3, 1883, as amended by the act or April 30, 1928, and the invention herein described and claimed, it patented, may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States of America for governmental purposes without the payment to me of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to an apparatus and process for separating and removing materials having difierent melting points, solubilities, and viscosities.

One of the objects of this invention is the provision of a method and apparatus for separating by fractionation materials which are highly viscous and which are agglomerated with foreign matter, such as is found in' crude oleoresin.

Another object of my invention is the provision of an apparatus which will accomplish the fractionating process above mentioned without interruption so that the material to be operated upon can be continuously fed into the apparatus while the separation of the materials previously introduced into the apparatus is taking place.

This invention can be utilized for the separation of any mixture of solid materials having diflerent melting points, such as crude oleoresin.

In general, the apparatus of my invention cmoprises a vertical melting chamber in the form of a tower into which the material to be treated is placed. Difl'erent zones of the chamber are heated at diflerent temperatures decreasing from the bottom to the top so that those materials having a lower melting point liquify first and then as the material passes through to the bottom of the chamber, the materials having increased melting points are liquified progressively. As each component is liquified, it is drained from the chamber and placed in separate receptacles.

The following description, considered together with the accompanying drawing, will disclose this invention more fully, its arrangement and operation of parts, and further objects and advantages thereof will be apparent.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal section throu h an embodiment of this invention; and

Figure 2 is a section along the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Referring with more particularity to the drawing in which like numerals designate like parts, the embodiment illustrated comprises a vertical cylindrical housing I I within which there is'longitudinally disposed a plurality of tubes l2 circumferentially spaced. The space i3 within the circle of tubes i2 comprises the melting chamber and the space l4 between the tubes I2 and the housing ll comprises a receiver for'the'melted materials flowing from the melting chamber before being drained from the apparatus. The ends of the tubes l2 are connected to upper and lower headers l5 and I6, respectively, to communicate with the annular spaces l I and it of said headers, respectively. An intake l 8A is connected tothe header I6 and an outlet I! to the header l5. On top of the header IS, a hopper 20 is mounted, from the bottom of which a delivery pipe 2l extends into the meltingchamber l3. On the bottom of the header l6, one end of an outlet or discharge pipe 22 is connected, the

other end being connected to a control valve 23. The control valve 23 is interposed between the pipe 22 and a closed container 24. The container 24 is provided with an inlet steam pipe 25 and an outlet 26 through which liquefied material is drained. One side or the chamber 24 is provided with an opening 21 over which an airtight removable cover plate 28 is normally disposed.

Between the tubes [2 and the housing ll there are secured, at vertical intervals, baflle shelves 29. These baflles divert the liquified material at zones, corresponding to their respective vertical positions, into drain pipes 30 tapped through the housing I i Within the chamber 13, there is disposed for vertical reciprocation a ring 3i supported on a spider 32. Extending outwardly from the ring 3! are a plurality of fingers 33, each extending through the space between an adjacent pair of tubes l2. The center of the spider 3| is connected to the lower end of a rod 34, the other end of said rod being pin-connected to one arm of a horizontal lever 35. The lever 1s fulcrumed at a point between its center to a bracket36 on the hopper 20. The other arm of the lever is pin-connected to one end of an arm 31, the otherend being pivoted to a crank arm 38 on a wheel 39 connected to a suitable source of power, such as a motor 40. Near the bottom of the rod 34, or at any other suitable point thereon, there is secured a cylindrical-like member M, the lateral surface of which is convex or lantern-shaped. The object of this element is to prevent coring of the materials charged in the chamber 13. The lever arrangement. at the top of the hopper 20 permits imparting a continuous reciprocating motion to the rod 34 and members 4| and 33.

In operation, the crude material is placed in the hopper from whence it flows through the pipe 2| into the melting chamber l3 and a heated fluid medium, such as water, is passed through the inlet IBA through the tubes l2 and out through the pipe l9, thereby establishing a uniform gradient of temperature from the bottom of the tubes l2 to the top. This gradient of temperature may be varied by varying temperature, pressure and rate of flow of said fluid medium. As the material in the chamber l3 comes in contact with the tubes l2, those materials having a. melting point at or below the temperature of the tubes at the point of contact are melted and filter through the openings between the tubes I2 into the space ll between the tubes l2 and the housing H where they flow downward and are diverted by the baflle 23 immediately below into drain pipe 30 and may be recovered in receptacles. As the material proceeds downward through the ,chamber l3, the progressively increasing temperatures cause the different constituents of the material having different melting points to melt progressively in the corresponding order of their melting points and to filter through the spaces between the tubes. Consequently, the drain pipes 30 at different elevations will drain materials of difierent melting points corresponding to the temperatures of the tubes between bailles 29. When the material reaches the bottom of the chamber l3, substantially all of the material which is meltable at the temperatures encountered will have been removed leaving only the refuse and materials of very high melting points. When a suflicient amount of this residue has accumulated the valve 23 is opened and the residue is permitted to flow into the chamber 24. The valve 23 is again closed and steam under pressure is introduced through the tube 25 to liquefy all the remaining liquefiable material in the residue, after which it is drained out of the chamber 24 through the outlet pipe 26. When all 4 the liquefied material has been removed from the chamber 24, the cover plate 28 is opened and the residue of foreign matter is removed through the opening 21.

During the entire operation, the rod 34 is reciprocated vertically by the means illustrated to prevent the material from coring and to insure a. uniform movement through the melting chamher. The fingers 33 projecting from the ring 3| through the spaces between the tubes, [2 also keep the spaces clean so as to avoid any obstruction for the filtering of the melted materials through said spaces.

Although the apparatus has been described above as employing a temperature gradient, it may also be used with a uniform heating temperature instead of a temperature gradient in the separation of crystalline and non-crystalline constituents in oleoresin and similar materials. In such cases steam may be used as the fluid heating medium. In using this apparatus for melting constituents of oleoresin, the action is not a true fractionation, but rather the oleoresin as it proceeds downward through the melting chamber absorbs heat from the tubes l2 and those constituents which first become free flowing by heating pass outward through the openings and are recovered. Then those constituents which require a greater amount of heat to become free flowing are next recovered at successively lower levels.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

-1. An apparatus of the character described comprising a vertical wall forming a melting chamber, means for heating said wall, means for introducing materials into the top of said chamber, said wall having longitudinal openings there through for filtering liquid materials, a casing about said wall for holding liquid passing through said openings, drain pipes on the outside 01' said wall at different elevations to carry off said liquid materials, and baiiies on the outside of said wall adjacent said openings at elevations corresponding to said drain pipes, to divert the liqiid to said drain pipes.

2. An apparatus of the character described comprising a plurality of vertical tubes disposed to form the walls of a vertical chamber, said tubes being in spaced relation to provide openings through which liquids can filter, a casing about said tubes for holding liquid passing through said openings, means for introducing materials into the top of said chamber, means for supporting materials in said chamber, means for passing a heating fluid through said tubes, and means for carrying ofi at difierent levels liquids filtering through said openings.

3. An apparatus of the character described comprising a plurality of vertical tubes disposed to form the walls of a vertical chamber, said tubes being in spaced relation to provide openings through which liquids can filter, a casing about said chamber for holding liquid passing through said openings, means for introducing materials into the top of said chamber, means for supporting materials in said chamber, means for passing a heating fluid through said tubes, means for carrying off at difierent levels liquids filtering through said openings, a rod vertically disposed in said chamber, means for vertically reciprocating said rod, and projections extending from said rod.- through said openings to scavenge said openings when said rod is reciprocated.

4. An apparatus -of the character described comprising a plurality of vertical tubes disposed to form the walls of a vertical chamber, said tubes being in spaced relation to provide openings through which liquids can filter, means for passing a heating fluid through said tubes, means for carrying oil at diiferent levels liquids filtering through said openings, a rod vertically disposed in said chamber, means for vertically reciprocating said rod, projections extending from said rod through said openings to scavenge said openings when said rod is reciprocated, means for agitating materials in said chamber, means for introducing materials into said chamber at the top thereof, and means for discharging materials from the bottom of said melting chamber.

JESSE O. REED. 

